The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Kniphofia plant, botanically known as Kniphofia uvaria, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘First Surprise’.
The new Kniphofia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new compact and early-flowering Kniphofia cultivars with attractive flower coloration.
The new Kniphofia originated from an open-pollination made by the Inventor in Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, of a proprietary seedling selection, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Kniphofia, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Kniphofia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated open-pollination grown in a controlled environment in Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands in 1999. The selection of this plant was based on its relatively compact habit and good flower coloration.
Asexual reproduction of the new Kniphofia by divisions in a controlled environment in Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands since 1999, has shown that the unique features of this new Kniphofia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.